Morning journal and courier., 1887-10-03
A ROusING mEErInG.


 Attend the Convention Here Tester" daY-The Evening Public Meeting Addresses by Grand Chief Conductor wheaton, President Clark of the Consolidated, Hon. John HI. Leeds and Others. The city alive all day yesterday with railroad conductors from all parts of the | country. There were about two hundred of \ these men so essential to the welfare of the l travelling public, as handsome, stalwart and | able bodied men as a rule as can be found I anywhere. They began to arrive in this city f on Saturday night and: proceeded to make ! themselves as much at home as possible and
 found a warm greeting and many9welcomes. sThe New Haven diyisionI No. POI Order of Railway Conductors, has, mot been in exist \ ence very long. It was just one year ago to- | day that the New Haven division was organ | ized. The division at that time started in | with twenty four members, but the order
 has not been backward by any means, and | just one year from the time of its organiza- | tion the division has about seventy members. \ No little of it's success is due to the chief conductor of the division, H. s. Beers, the | well known conductor of the Derby road, and ! to Conductor Frank Hermance of the Con- ! solidated, one of the most widely known and popular men in the order in this section. The convention met in the Atheneum | building yesterday morning for the purpose | of hearing various reports of the order and discussing matters relative to it's still greater prosperity. Grand Chief Conductor Wheaton | of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Chairman Belknap of | the executive committee of Yalesville, H., ! Grand Junior Conductor Wise, and chief | tors of the various divisions, made I able and forcible addresses, which | were both interesting and instructive in re- | gard to matters relating to the doings and progress of the order. The object of the or ! der is to improve and benefit it's members. It pays a death and disability benefit also. | Nineteen years ago it was first organized in | Illinois, but was more successfully brought to life in Columbus, Ohio, short time after | ward. The order has grown very fast, more | so than it's originators had hoped for: Ithas ! spread through every State and territory ex- l cept four and has 13,000 members. It has ! been something new to the New England | conductors, who were only recently
 interested in it's work and divisions then be- gan to be organized The whole order | is in most fourishing condition. It is increasing in numbers and | of course it's financial standing is being con | stantly bettered. There is connected with | the order mutual aid association. This s. \ sociation has six thousand mem bers. In
 case of death or permanent total disability of | any of the members, his family receives | $2, 300. The speakers expressed themselves
 as greatly gratifed with the progress of the | order 30 far.
 After the meeting the delegates partook of | dinner. One hundred of them went to the | Tontine hotel, the other hundred to Diebels. Such able-bodied men could not fail to do | justice to the excellent spread which was set \ before them.
 | =. After the meeting the conductors went to | their respective places of entertainment, l where supper was served, after which occur ! red the grand rally of the divisions of New ! England in the New Haven Opera House. People began to arrive half an hour before | the time set for the meeting to commence. Admission was by cards of Invitation mostly. There were many ladies who took enough in- | terest in the good of the conductors to brave the weather and turn out, besides many prominent citizens and distinguished rail road magnates. On the stage were seated ! the conductors, who formed a solid bank of handsome humanity, and the people present had chance to see what the New England conductors look like when not attired in their blue uniforms and not calling in voice full of hurry and power "All aboard!' There was not 8 vacant seat in the opera house and many were obliged to stand.
 At 7:30 o'clock the orchestra, led by Pro- lessor Soltau, rendered selection of sacred music, after which w. s. Pardee of the Hart ford division of the Consolidated road stepped to the front of the stage and after bidding
 the audience welcome, feeling gratifed that so many of the people Of New Haven were present, he introduced c. s. Wheaton of
 Cedar Rapids, Mich, who is the grand chief
 conductor of the Order of Railway Conduc-
 tors. MT. Wheaton was greeted with ap-
 plause. He expressed his gratitude at being able to be before such large audience, and then said: I think you will be disappointed in what I will tell you tonight of the Order of Railway Conductors. Ishall try, however, to interest you. This meeting is the anniversary of the New Haven division, No. POI. One year ago, sixteen men who are conductors in the vicin- ity of New Haven entered building, and
 ized a division of the great Or
 der of Railway Conductors To,
 them in celebrating this anniversary; this evening they have invited you, the citizens of New Haven. I feel honored of the men here on this platform, who are the conduc- tors of New England. You perhaps know more of them personally than l do, but I have seen them under far different circum- stances than you. I believe that had you seen them under these circumstances you would have passed as favorable an opinion of them as have
 But what is the Order of Railway Conduc- tors2 you ask. My memory runs back eighteen years, when thlee conductors form ed the order These men outlined a certain I mode of principle. Through the years that have passed these principles have been somewhat changed. The principles then made were for mutual improvement, social 1y and mentally. The families of the con- ductors of the order were afterward included in the set of principles to be looked after and cared for.
 The order passed down these years until ko1 1axy kofov 1o tho foir nf ples, as far as the labor question is concerned, of any in the country. (Applause.) Since the organization of this order you have never heard of a strike among the conduc-
 tors. (Applause.) We believe this to be
 America and as we are American citizens we are proud of it. We do not think that we have the right to enter store or any place of business and direct you how to conduct your business. (Applause.) It is the belief of the order and one of it's principles that man shall have full right to transact his own business. We do not dictate to the men in whose control and care our railroads have
 been placed. We believe we should walk together with them in order to secure greater benefits to ourselves. = If the American laboring men could be
 brought to 8 full realization of American
 citizenship the labor question would be an easy one to solve. What we need, I
 say, in America are American ideas
 Most of all we need education. In
 the workshop, on the railways, every where
 we need it in our principle of American citi-
 zenship. We read of money being sent out
 of the country for missionary purposes, yet
 how much are we doing fer AmericaG Have
 you ever stopped and considered that Amer
 ica is much larger in population than it was
 ten years ago? Such is the truth. It should
 make every man know what his duty is as an
 American, and then the labor problems
 could all be eradicated by education. This
 line of reasoning is applied to the Order of
 Railway Conductors, and it is just why the
 order was organized. Many drift into the
 railway business. Too little care is often ex-
 ercised in the selection of those who may be
 the conductors of tomorrow. They are en.
 gagged in an emergency. But we believe in
 education, and we recognize the need of it.
 As you know, conductors live in peculiar
 way. They rise in the morning, bid farewell
 to their families, and are off, not for the day
 but in most cases for the night also, and no
 knowing how much longer. And you know
 the surroundings with which they have to
 contend. As soon as they alight from the
 train at the place which is the limit of their
 run they are met by all their boon compan-
 ioy, Iurir %ba 1,o1a oe T